Just One Call
by writersblock24
Summary: Stephanie Plum was living a normal life... until one day when the phone rang and changed it forever. AU story. Babe, though Joe makes an appearance but survives unscathed. Rating for later.
1. Chapter 1

HELLOOOO! So, I'm back. It's been a while, no? I know I promised you guys a new story in August of *gasp* last year and I didn't deliver. This is that story, but it took me until now to get the first chapter right! I know what I want to do and I know what I want to write, but that first chapter is always a killer for me. That's why whenever I start a paper for school, I start in the middle and do the intro last. Plus once school started (3 graduate classes... one being the equivalent to a speeding train and if you missed something you were dead in the water...) plus 32 hours a week at work plus finding time to read for pleasure plus sleeping equals no time for me to write :(. But now I'm taking 2 classes (one is online) and I'm working a few less hours (yay!), I actually have *gasp again* free time (free time? what's that?)! So in between reading for pleasure (if you guys could see the list I have plus the stack of books on my bed... they know my name at the library!), work, slightly less school (but its STILL graduate school, so there may be gaps between chapters) and volunteering again (which I'm really happy I got to do again), I will be posting on this story. And you guys know me well enough by now (or at least you SHOULD), I finish what I start. So don't get nervous if I disappear for a few weeks. It either means I got stuck with school, no time and the muse has run away for a vacation (honestly, after all the snow we've gotten, I wouldn't blame her), or trying to finish one of the amazing books I have.

Now that the authors note is ten times longer than the first chapter (don't worry, they'll get longer)... I'll let you get to it. This is going to be AU. Most of the people in this story will have the same job, but it's not in cannon. So if you're looking for one that is more cannon, I understand if you want to leave and read another one of my stories that is or someone different.

If you don't like it, don't read it. I'm not forcing you to sit there and read. I write to relieve stress and to entertain. No other reasons. You know what you like, not me.

And finally, no Beta was used, so any mistakes are mine. Be free to giggle, but please let me know if it makes a big impact in the story. This will be a Babe story. Joe will not be hurt, but bear with me to get there (you'll see what I mean in later chapters).

None of the characters are mine, although I would love a night with Ranger in a locked bedroom and a bottle of hot fudge...

* * *

The room was cold and they knew it. The two men in black suits continued to watch her shiver, but unwilling to help. It wasn't their place to help her. The only person that could help her now was herself.

The first man was Special Agent Robert Gordon. He was mid-fifties, fit, with salt and pepper hair. The other agents said that his green eyes saw everything. They all thought it was unnerving, but useful against the suspects. The second was much younger. Matt Farmer's tawny hair gleamed in the light and his smile made women swoon (and faint when he let his blue eyes twinkle). They had been partners for two years and _still_ no one could figure out how it worked. Gordon was old school and Farmer was an out of the box thinker. But somehow, they got their cases solved, and solved quickly.

The door opened, and Supervisory Special Agent Tim Morrisey walked into the viewing room. Morrisey was aged somewhere between the two men. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, intelligent, but guarded. He wore a gray suit, appearing opposite of the other agents. He stood there, silent, watching the woman as the two others had. The men shifted uncomfortably.

"Has she said anything?" Agent Morrisey asked, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Not a word. She didn't even ask for a lawyer like most people." Agent Gordon replied. "I blame TV."

"You'd blame the President, if you could." Farmer scoffed.

Gordon almost rolled his eyes. "As if. People these days watch too much tv. They immediately ask for a lawyer even when they don't know why we need to talk to them. If they're not in handcuffs, then they're usually not in trouble. But every time, they think they're in an episode of _Law and Order_."

"Dude, don't knock my show."

Gordon's eyes shifted to his partner. "You need a new show."

"Not likely."

Morrisey coughed and they became silent again. "You've got the folder?"

"Right here, boss." Farmer said, handing it over.

He took it and entered the room. "Ms. Plum? I'm Supervisory Special Agent Tim Morrisey. I just have a few questions for you."

Her eyes followed his movement, but she still didn't speak.

"Do you think he'll get her to talk?"

"Probably not. He's got a strong hold on her."

Gordon grunted. "If anyone can get her to talk, it'd be Morrisey."

"We'll see about that."

They tuned back into the conversation. "Look, you're not in trouble. We just need your help." He opened the folder and pulled out a picture. "Do you know this man?"

Her eyes flicked down, then back at Morrisey. Nothing.

"How about this man?" Another picture.

Nothing.

"This one?" The final picture went down.

She was still silent.

Morrisey sighed. "You can't help him if you don't talk to me."

Her eyes never wavered.

"Ranger is in over his head. We don't want to arrest him, but he needs our help before he goes too far and we can't help him." He pointed to the pictures. "Don't these men deserve justice? They were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

She blinked.

"You live a simple life, Ms. Plum and I know you want to get back to it. I'll talk to your boss. You'll get your job back with a raise. That's what you want, isn't it? Just help us out and you can go back."

Stephanie Plum finally spoke. "Go back?" For the first time, she smiled. "If I tell you what you want to know, and you can give me back my life?"

"Holy crap. He did it." Farmer said.

"I guess he did." Gordon replied, frowning.

"That's all you need to do, Ms. Plum. Just help us and we can help you both."

Stephanie looked at her hands. A pained look came onto her face. The men knew that she was feeling guilty for ratting out Ranger Manoso, but clearly she valued herself more than him.

Typical female.

When she pulled her head up, all three men were surprised. She was smiling again. Then she opened her mouth.

"Ranger is going to eat you for lunch."

And promptly shut back down.


	2. Chapter 2

I know, I'm sorry. I wanted this out WAY sooner than weeks later, but hey, RL can be a bitch. I had a midterm that took most of my focus and pretty much shoved this story out of the way. But I'm back! Hopefully the next chapter won't take me three weeks to publish.

I forgot in the first chapter to give a little background. This story is based on something that actually happened to me. The phone call, not the ensuing mayhem (no, I didn't get interrogated by the FBI). The minute it was over, I thought, 'what would Stephanie Plum do?' and this happened.

Also, the first few chapters are going to be a little slow (mostly because Ranger won't be showing up for a bit...). I'm going to be setting up this little story. And yes, it is a BABE story. So babes... have faith.

Not mine, but I wish I could play with Ranger... or Lester... for a little while. The only thing is, is my mistakes.

* * *

_Weeks before…_

In Chambersburg, New Jersey, there are two rules. Rule number one: grow up, marry and push out babies to continue the cycle. The second is keeping your house so clean that the neighbors can't complain. My mother and sister is world class expert in following the rules; their houses are pristine and my sister has pushed out the required grandchildren.

Me? Not so much. I tend to break rules… and everything around them.

My name is Stephanie Plum. I'm of average height and on good days my weight allows me to snap my jeans. I have curly brown hair and a witty personality that I got from my Italian father and big blue eyes and my fast metabolism from my Hungarian mother.

I, fortunately, managed to make it out of the Burg. I have a small apartment in Hamilton Township, about ten minutes from my parent's place, which made my mother at least somewhat happy. My sister moved to California with her first husband, which made my mother freak. When she came back, divorced with her two kids, my mother figured that moving farther than two streets away was the devil. This was a nice compromise. I get to be on my own and my mother can pull the proverbial umbilical cord. The building was new and the apartments were well lit and open. The walls beige and carpet Berber, but I classed it up with some vibrantly colored furniture. My couch was red and the lounge chair a deep purple. The bedspread was blue and all my bathroom accessories were a nice green. All the tables and chairs were a nice cherry wood. The kitchen has a very happy yellow. By themselves, they would've looked out of place, but in my apartment, somehow it worked. It wasn't a penthouse, but definitely a big step up from the crappy apartments I lived in when I was in college.

Currently, I was relaxing in my tub, enjoying a bubble bath and a good book. The heroine was about to get her brains screwed out by the swarthy bad boy with a heart of gold when there was a knock on the bathroom door.

Joe came in, smiling wide. "Well, this is a nice view." He said.

I sniffed the air. "Do I smell Pino's?"

He held up the bag. "Meatball sub, as promised."

Yum. "Give me a second."

He stepped in, gave me a sweet kiss on the lips, and left.

Joe Morelli has been my boyfriend for the last year. He's full blooded Italian with dark hair, chocolate eyes that melt when I'm naked and a body all the actors in Hollywood would die for. I've known Joe all my life since we grew up only a few streets from each other and he was my first for a few important stages in my life. He taught me how to play choo-choo at six and stole my virginity at sixteen on the Tasty Pastry floor. We met again three years ago at my engagement party. I was almost arrested for assaulting my ex-fiancé when I found him banging Joyce Barnhardt in the coat closet. Joe and I became friends and finally, a couple after a few years of shuffling feet. Things were good, so we were taking it slow.

My mother, on the other hand, keeps reminding me of my biological clock. Apparently it's keeping _her_ up at night. But I'm in no rush for the marriage and babies thing. I'm twenty-seven years old and enjoying life.

Sighing, I put the bookmark back in place with a mental "_I'll pick that up later_" and made my way out of the tub. I dressed quickly in a stretchy top and shorts and made my way to the table.

Joe had just finished doling out the subs and potato salad. I grabbed the beers and met him at the table.

"How was work today?" I asked him. Joe's a vice cop for the Trenton Police department. Most days he wore jeans and a t-shirt, but on court days, he wore a suit. Most of the people on the force said he looked like a casino pit boss, but I thought he looked pretty sexy.

"Had to testify on one of my cases today." He said, rolling up his dress shirt sleeve. He told me about the case he was working on. Drug busts were getting closer to the burg. I loved being with Joe, but when he talked about work, I tend to tune it out a little and do the nodding thing while I work on my shopping list. I'm pretty sure Joe does the same thing to me. We have an understanding.

"Cross is tomorrow and then I'll be done. I hate court days. The guys leave casino chips all over my desk for a week."

"They do it because it's fun." I actually thought it was cute. Joe didn't, but hey, the guys need to blow off steam somehow.

"Those guys need a hobby. How was your day?"

I work for Trenton Insurance as a Customer Advocate. Actually, it's a glorified title. All I do is sit around and listen to people bitch all day about their policies. I've been working at that job for five years and while the pay is good, I want to be doing something… more.

"There's a position opening in the claims department. It's more of an investigative job. I'd go out and see who's a big, fat liar and who's not. I'm thinking about applying for it."

Joe made a face. "Are you sure? The job won't be as glamorous as you think. I do that all day and most days the people are even ruder in person than on the phone."

"I listen to people bitch all day. How could it be any worse?" I shrugged. "Besides, I'm just applying. Doesn't hurt to apply, does it?"

"Fair enough." He squeezed my hand. "If it's what you want, I hope you get it."

I smiled and squeezed back. The rest of the meal was finished in silence. Joe stayed for the hockey game, but spent more time making out on the couch. He left shortly after, stating he needed an early start; I walked him to the door and we kissed for a minute or two longer.

"Next time I'll stay."

"Good." I pecked him one more time and he was gone.

After cleaning up the kitchen, I got ready for bed and settled in for a night of reading. My eyes flew across the page and something stirred in my lower belly. The heroine was definitely having a better sex life than I was right now, and I was a little jealous. But that wasn't causing the tingles. She was on the run for her life and having a great adventure with a sexy, yummy man and I was… jealous.

I knew that it was a book, but I was still jealous all the same. Realizing that it was midnight and I had to work early, I sighed and replaced the bookmark. Reading about romantic adventures was why most people read. They were supposed to be engaged in the story and entertained.

Not jealous.

I sighed again and flipped. I wanted something more and maybe the new job (if I got it) would do that for me, but there was still the nagging feeling that I was missing out on something. The feeling stayed with me until I finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

And in case you missed it because you were too excited. YES, this is a BABE story. Don't worry, and trust me.


	3. Chapter 3

Ooh, look who's updating already! This girl is.

I'm loving the response I'm getting for this story! It's been ruminating for so long in my head, I sometimes wonder what's good and what's not. The fact that you guys are enjoying yourselves gives me great hopes. A couple of you already figured out some of my inspiration (not material stolen from these works... I don't consciously plagiarize and if anyone thinks that, they don't know me or my work very well) from the movie Red and before we're done, there'll be a little more Red and some Bourne with a whole lot of me in there thrown in!

So please enjoy. The only thing I own is the computer I write this on the mistakes I make, the story idea, and any characters I make up along the way.

* * *

A few days later, I was finalizing my resume on the computer. This was the big day and I was getting nervous.

Sally swiveled in his chair and looked over my shoulder. "Girl, you're a shoe-in for that job! Stop worrying!" Sally said, patting my shoulder. Sally Sweet and I started working at the company around the same time and became cube-mates when my former mate mysteriously moved to a desk across the office.

She had OCD and I live my life messy. You do the math.

Sally is six foot seven, built like a string bean, has curly black hair, brown eyes and likes to cross dress on the weekends for his band.

"I just want to make sure it's perfect. I don't want it to get thrown out because of a stupid typo."

Sally sighed and rolled his eyes. He was getting to good at that. "Look, you work hard, work longer and are completely competent for that job. I have no doubts that they know that too!"

"I love you, Sally."

"Dude, you know I love you."

I took a deep breath, bit my lip and hit print. "There. Done."

He handed the paper to me. "Now go hand it in!"

"Right. Going." I got up and walked towards my boss's office.

The closer I got to her office, the more confidence I felt. Shira Nash was a decent boss, and I knew she'd at least hear me out. She's a five foot, five inches middle aged woman who had a voice that sounds like she smoked three packs a day. Her hair was blonde and teased like cotton candy and her sliver eyes missed nothing.

Shira was on the phone when I knocked, but she waved me in. I sat, and crossed and uncrossed my legs nervously.

"Uh huh. Yeah, we'll talk about that later. I got someone here that looks like she's about to wet her pants." She grimaced and nodded. "Yeah, that's good. Call me then. Ciao." Shira hung up the phone and laced her fingers. "What can I do for you, Stephanie?"

I handed her my resume. "I heard there was an opening in the investigative division and I wanted to apply for it."

She glanced over it. "I see." She said slowly.

"I've been working here for a long time and I'd like to keep growing within the company."

"But you've got no real investigative experience."

"I know, but I'm a quick learner and I have an uncanny ability to build a rapport with people."

"That is true." She considered this for a moment. "Look, Plum, you're one of my best workers. But if you're serious about this, I'll put it in the pile."

I nodded. "Thanks."

"Good luck."

I nodded once more and left. Sally peeked over the partition. I gave him the thumbs up and he grinned.

* * *

"So when do you find out?" Mary Lou my best friend asked me. I met her at Pino's for our weekly lunch. Mary Lou and I grew up together and started these lunches when she got married. No matter what was going on in our lives, we dropped everything each Tuesday to catch up. Her husband Lenny has to make sure he's home for lunch to watch the kids.

I shrugged. "In the next couple weeks, I'd think."

"I know you'll get it. You're too good to that company." Mary Lou smiled. She was built like a brick shithouse, has curly brown hair, brown eyes and too many sweater sets to count. Today's color was a nice dusky pink.

"I hope so. I really want that job."

"What brought this on? The change in jobs."

I shrugged again. "It felt like it was time for a change." I looked down at my cup. Empty. "Need a refill?"

"Sure."

I got up and headed towards the bar. Pino's is a family restaurant and each and every person in here has been coming since they were in diapers. Pino's has waitresses, but as long as you don't set anything on fire, he lets you pretty much go anywhere.

I leaned over the bar (clearly feeling too lazy to go around the bar) and started filling our cups with Pepsi.

Just as I was finishing, I started to slip. My life flashed before my eyes and I could feel the blood pooling in my head when two warm hands grabbed my hips, pulling me back at the last minute.

"Thanks," I said, when the hands turned me right side up and back safely on ground.

The dark brown eyes looked like they were thinking about smiling. "Sure." The hands didn't move and we stood there for a minute, just staring.

"Dude, there are other damsels in distress to save." His friend said from the door. "Let's go."

Mystery man nodded to his friend. "Be careful."

"Certainly."

He smiled this time and added a small squeeze to my hips before letting go. Before I knew it, the man melted into the crowd and was gone. I shook my head and grabbed our glasses.

I could still feel the tingle from his hands on my hips.

"Whew. Who was that?" Mary Lou asked when I got back to the table.

"No idea." I told her about what happened. "And then he just vanished."

"He was hot…"

"Lou! You're married!"

"Yes, married, dear. Not dead."

True. I have a serious boyfriend, but I wasn't about to disagree. He was hot. Dark hair, dark eyes, mocha latte skin. Muscles bulging out…

Yum.

And his friend wasn't unfortunate looking either. Same skin, green eyes and a quick smile that I was sure dropped more panties than a bathroom trip.

A tingle grew in my belly.

"So how's Joe?"

Annnd… Tingle gone.

"Good." The waitress put the pizza down between us. "Working hard."

"And he's behind the move in your career?"

"Yes, of course. He wants what I want."

"Good. He's a keeper, Steph."

"I know." I took a slice. "I'm well aware of that fact."

* * *

Later at night, I went over the highlights of the day. Joe had come over with dinner again and this time, he stayed the night. I glanced over at him. He was on his side, fast asleep.

It melted my heart.

"I can feel you thinking all the way over here." Joe said without opening his eyes.

Go figure. He cracked an eye. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Just nervous about that job."

His hand rubbed my naked shoulder. "You'll get it. I know you will."

I smiled and leaned over to kiss him. "Thanks. You're the best, you know?"

"Duh." He rolled back over and went to sleep for real this time.

But I didn't. Instead, I went over the conversation I had with Mary Lou. I knew that Joe was a good guy. He was a _great_ guy. Even though we've had our trouble when we were kids, he definitely didn't turn into his dad. Mr. Morelli was an abusive drunk that liked to use his family as his personal boxing gym. It's a miracle that any of the Morelli boys turned out normal. My parents liked him and his mother liked me. We were a match made in heaven. I felt safe and secure with him.

These were all things that I knew.

And yet, when I finally fell into a deep sleep, all my thoughts were focused on the mystery man in black.

* * *

*grins* Yes, I couldn't help myself. Ranger has made his first appearance! He didn't want to stay in the shadows any longer. Please leave some love now!


	4. Chapter 4

Happy Aprilmas! I can't believe its been a month since I last updated...

Okay, so here's whats going on. I had the beginning. I know where this is going and pretty much how it ends. Its the 'how the heck do I connect the beginning to where its going' that's giving me trouble. Then the other day, I FINALLY figured it out. So _hopefully _the rest of the story comes easy now and it won't take me a month to post. But if it does, stick with me, I WILL finish.

RL will finally slow down... for a month. My final is Thursday and then summer session doesn't start till June. So I'll have some more free time for this, thankfully.

Not mine, but there was some talk of Ranger, me, chocolate syrup and a week in bed...

* * *

"It sounds like you're in a bit of a pickle there, dear." Grandma Mazur said. Grandma Mazur was my last living grandparent and my mother's mother. She went to live with my parents after my Grandfather bit the big one, but was currently in the hospital for a hip replacement.

She broke it while rollerblading.

Grandma wasn't a day over eighty-one, but had the skin of a hundred and twenty two year old. Her hair was white and her blue eyes saw _everything_.

"I love Joe, I do. It's just…" I stopped.

Grandma lifted her bed into a sitting position. "There's no spark left."

I nodded and blushed. There was no one who knew me better than my grandmother _and _she knew how to keep a secret. The fact that I was having doubts about my relationship with Morelli wouldn't get all over the Burg the minute I left the room.

It would happen when her gals from the Clip 'N Curl come to visit tomorrow. Her rollerblading pals.

"Would it have anything to do with that sexy man you ran into a few days ago?"

I had barely mentioned him, but I felt he was part of this all the same. I bit my lip. Did it? Or was I feeling these feelings _way _before and he just brought them to the surface?

"I have no idea." I said honestly.

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"What do you think I should do?"

Grandma shook her head. "That's not for me to decide. _You _need to figure that out. Not me or your mother or even those nosy Burg ladies. And I know what you're thinking. My lips are zipped on this one. Not until you know what to do."

I sighed. My stomach was flip flopping inside me. Somehow I knew she was going to say that, but secretly hoped that she wouldn't.

"Couples go through this. Your grandfather and I definitely did."

"What did you and Grandpa do?"

She sighed. "Got back to the basics. He wooed me all over again." Grandma got a dopey look on her face and a faraway smile started to appear. She may be looking for someone to share her life with _now_, but right then I knew that my grandfather was the only man for her. Period.

I smiled. My Grandfather was a very quiet man. That was something he would _never _do.

She nodded. "Like I said, it's a phase. They lose what they had that brought them together. Doesn't mean you can't get it back. The real question is: do you want to get it back?"

* * *

"This was a really good idea." Joe said to me. He pulled my chair out of the table and kissed my cheek. After my visit with Grandma, I called Joe and asked him out. Mostly he was surprised, but agreed readily. We chose to go to Marsillo's, the place we went to for our second date. It was a classier version of Pino's, but less families and more cloth tablecloths. The atmosphere screamed '_date_' to me.

"I thought we could get back to some basics of our relationship. When was the last time we had a date?"

"Last week. I took you to Pino's."

"The last one where we weren't eating on plastic tablecloths."

He paused. "Got me there."

I rolled my eyes and opened my menu. Joe followed suit and the waiter came over to take our drink order. A few minutes later, we ordered and lapsed into an awkward silence.

"So have you heard back about that job yet?"

"Probably next week. I feel good about it."

He paused. "Are you sure you want to make the move?"

I put my wine down. "What?"

"All I'm saying is that you're good at your job now. Why would you want to leave that?"

"Don't you want to grow in the police force? Don't you want to be more than a detective?"

"Sure." He shrugged. "Someday."

"So there you go. That's what I'm doing." I looked at him. "I thought you wanted this for me."

"I do. I just want to make sure that you're sure."

I felt like we've had this conversation before.

Oh wait, we have.

I didn't want to ruin the evening, so I changed the subject. "How's your mother?"

He went on to talk about how she was waiting for me to come over again for my next cooking lesson. I actually enjoyed learning how to cook some of Joe's favorite's things from someone who wasn't constantly trying to take over what I was doing. Although I could do without his crazy Grandma Bella…

But I couldn't help but feel that he was creating a double standard. What, he didn't want me to advance my career? What if we got married? Would he assume that I would just up and quit my job?

Did I want to marry him? Why was I thinking about marriage? I wasn't ready for marriage and babies. Both of those subjects gave me hives.

I looked up. Shit, he wanted me to respond. So I did what I do best, I smiled and nodded.

The rest of the dinner went smoothly. We laughed, we ate, and we actually had a good time. Joe walked me to my door and kissed me goodnight.

I, however, didn't want it to end there.

We quickly went into my apartment, where Joe practically dragged me to my room. I giggled at his excitement.

"What? I can't remember the last time we did this." He said between kisses.

Huh, neither could I.

We quickly divested each other of our clothes and fell into bed. I grabbed a condom and quickly dressed him. Joe grinned and pushed me onto my back.

And then I was flying.

After, Joe and I laid next to each other and tried to catch our breath. We smiled at each other.

"Yeah, _our_ basics are rock solid." He said, panting.

I just grinned. "Fuckin' A."

* * *

**Ranger's POV**

The phone rang next to me on the table. "Yo." I said.

"Good morning sunshine!" Lester called out to me. I shifted the phone away from my face and looked at the clock. 3:18.

"What do you want? I'm offline for a few more hours." Jesus, I just needed a few to get some _fucking sleep_.

"Yeah, but you said to call you if someone was dying…"

"Is someone dying?"

"Not _technically_ no. But Bones broke his leg trying to clear a fence after a skip. I know, I know; I love the irony."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I'll be in soon." I put the phone back on the table and started to look for my pants.

"Where are you going?" Jeanne asked. She rolled onto her side and faced me. The sheet had slipped to her waist and exposed her breasts.

Jeanne Ellen was one of our freelance workers. She usually took the smaller government jobs and was a bounty hunter for Les Sebring. We met a few years after I got out of basic and have had an on and off non-relationship ever since. Her blonde hair was still mussed from our last round and her grey eyes were still glassy.

"I've got to go in. Bones is hurt."

"And he needs you to hold your hand? He's a grown man, Ranger."

I pulled my shirt on. "It's my job, Jeanne. You know this. I'd be there for you."

"Really?" She batted her eyes. "Would you bring me flowers?"

I didn't respond to her. Most of the time she can be a cold as ice bitch. "I'll see you later." I left the apartment and headed up. Lester met me at the stairs door.

"It's not as bad as the doctors thought. It's a hairline fracture and he'll be good to go in a few weeks. They're going to fit him for a cast and then let him go."

I nodded. "Good. Who's his partner today?"

"Hal."

"Make sure he makes a report of the accident. I want to talk to the doctors when they're ready to discharge. I'll make sure all the insurance is covered."

"Word. I hope I didn't pull you from anything important."

"Nope."

The rest if the day went by quickly. I run my own company called Rangeman. We handle security, bodyguarding, failure to appears (or bail jumpers from court) and government contracts. Most of the days putting out fires and making sure Bones got home comfortably. Bobby, our company medic saw him home and then gave me a full report from the doctor. When they were ready to release him, I was in the middle of a meeting with a client that had their house broken into.

"It's a small fracture on the left tibia. He'll be immobile for a while, but we can put him on light duty until the cast comes off. We can reassess him when that happens and decide when he can come back to full duty."

I nodded. "Good. Make sure he's accommodated when he comes back to work." I looked at the schedule. "Give him tomorrow off as well."

"He said if you tried to do that, he wanted me to decline. He wants to come in."

I'd rather him rest and recuperate, but like Jeanne pointed out icily, he was a man. I nodded again. "Fine, but if he only wants to work a half day, let him."

"Will do."

* * *

"Here, I've got that file you wanted." Tank said as he came into my office. I held up my hand, and took it without looking up and dismissed him without a word. Tank is my second in command. He lives up to his nickname standing at six foot, seven inches and more muscle than the Governator. His skin was the color of chocolate and his dark eyes stayed alert 24/7.

"It's pretty late."

I was surprised to see that the sun had set. "Most of the paperwork has to be signed by me." I slit my eyes to him. "You want to do it?"

"Hell no. You keep your paperwork." I figured we were done.

But still, he stayed.

I sighed internally. "What."

"I saw you leaving the fourth floor earlier today."

I stopped doing what I was doing. "And?"

"And then I saw Jeanne Ellen leave."

"And?" I repeated.

He just crossed his arms.

I put the pen down now. "Do I judge you on your personal life?"

"That's not even the point. You know what you're doing with her is a slippery slope."

"My life to lend itself to relationships right now."

"Will it ever?"

I wasn't sure. I couldn't even see past next week. "Someday, maybe." I said honestly. "And she gets it. She understands the lifestyle. With the contracts we've done, having a significant other is impossible."

"Do you honestly believe that or do you like thinking that so you don't let anyone close?"

I didn't answer him.

"Yeah, think about that." He scratched his bald head. "When you meet her? Just remember this conversation. Every day you wake up and protect these men. You need to have faith that you can do the same for her. Because we both know that you can."

* * *

I didn't want Ranger to appear _just yet_, but once you let that man out of the box... you kind of can't put him back in... And don't be mad at him for sleeping with Jeanne. I made him more human. Ranger wasn't a virgin when he and Steph slept together and I'm not going to portray him that way. He feels he can't have a romantic connection, but still has his... um... man urges?

Leave me some love!


End file.
